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I am an expat Australian living in China, After five years in Beijing, I moved to Pu'er (Simao), Yunnan in south-western China in mid-2011. I won't deny that part of the reason was to pursue my photography passion. Yunnan is reknowned as a flora and fauna mecca - China's Amazon. And indeed, everything (insect-wise) is bigger, brighter, more abundant and more bizarre than elsewhere. I had always been interested in biology, zoology and the natural world with an emphasis on all things small, most notably the insects. Initially this took the form of killing and pinning specimens and thankfully (and more appeallingly) progressed to photography. I am fairly prolific in my image output and my full portfolio is viewable on Flickr as itchydogimages (http://www.flickr.com/photos/itchydogimages/). This collection is a little more selective. Entitled "Bugs on Black", this portfolio of images is of Chinese insects and arachnids on a black background whether it be in my home lightbox studio or in a natural setting where the use of a flash without a close background produces a dark backdrop. The black background, although not natural in appearance, focuses the attention of the image on the subject itself and can emphasize additional detail otherwise not evident.